freeholdfandomcom-20200213-history
Pierre Soveliss
Pierre Soveliss was born to Elaine and Eldar Soveliss in Enstad, the capital of Celene, and raised alongside his older brother, Caine Soveliss. Growing up in a household of some privilege, he was expected by his parents to become an intellectual and a warrior. While Pierre was an avid reader and a quick learner, subjects such as Economics, History, Dwarven, and Ethics failed to capture his imagination. He also had a difficult time mastering the Elven ancestral weapons, the shortsword and the longbow, and would frequently skip out on his lessons. Caine, on the other hand, excelled in his traditional studies and was a prodigy when it came to hand-to-hand combat. Pierre did however possess a strong affinity towards the fine arts, and was always fascinated by things he considered to be pleasant to the senses. At some point, this manifested itself into an affinity for cuisine. Eldar did not approve, and he argued that cooking was a duty for servants, not a muse for artists. Nevertheless, cooking became a steady hobby for Pierre, and that was how he spent much of his free time. Caine and Pierre grew to respect and admire each other's differences in cognition and became steadfast friends. Not even the fact that their father clearly favored Caine over his brother could change the fact. Eldar, who was a high ranking bladesinger in Queen Yolande’s Companion Guard, had very strict views on maintaining Elven traditions. He had a poor relationship with Pierre due to his nonconformity with these traditions, and would often only speak to him when necessary. He eventually took Caine under his wing and personally trained him in the ways of the bladesinger, leaving Pierre to his various hobbies. Elaine, the last surviving member of the enigmatic Amakiir family, also had a distant relationship with Eldar due to their differences in political views. She was a member of the People of the Testing, and while she never once spoke about the organization itself, she frequently made it clear that she believed in its goal to break the Elven tradition of isolation and regrow Celene’s ties with the rest of the world. To Pierre, who believed that unreasonable adherence to tradition was the root of the discord in his family, this seemed like a very admirable goal indeed. Caine also agreed, but he kept quiet about his opinions so as to not upset his father. North of Celene, world events began to take a turn for the worse. The conflict between the Empire of Iuz and Furyondy had hit its climax, and more and more kingdoms were being drawn into the war. Eventually, Enstad itself came under attack by one of Iuz’s Despoilers in the form of an ancient brass dragon. Unprepared for such an assault, large portions of Enstad were destroyed and the population sustained heavy casualties. In the midst of the attack, Eldar rushed to the defence of Queen Yolande. Meanwhile, due to some strange and unexplained circumstance, Elaine drew her weapons and engaged in single combat with the beast. Unfortunately, the black rage and sheer destructive force of the cursed dragon proved to be too great for her to overcome, and after almost five minutes of an earth-shattering struggle, she was slain. The dragon, too injured to press his attack, was forced into an early retreat. When the dust had finally settled, a mysterious note from Elaine was recovered that not only foretold the outcome of the battle, but also specified that her weapons should go to her children after her death. Caine was to receive her rapier, Dawntooth, and Pierre was to receive her dagger, Duskclaw. These blades, passed down through the Amakiir family for generations, were forged from the remains of an ancient Elven longsword that had been broken into two pieces centuries ago in some long-forgotten battle. The Soveliss brothers were deeply saddened and confused by the entire affair, but Pierre was also curious. How could something as beautiful as the dragon he saw end up causing so much suffering and destruction, and why was his mother so intent on facing it down alone with the knowledge that she would fail? In the years that followed after Iuz was betrayed by his Despoilers, Pierre’s fascination with dragons grew, and he sought out more and more knowledge concerning them. With the rest of the world on the mend and scholars from all over the Flanaess gathering in the Grand Spire to record and analyze the happenings of the war, Eldar was aggressive in insisting that Pierre make the journey to Furyondy to continue his education. This was a blatant slight against Pierre, as the life of a dedicated scholar meant waiving one’s inheritance and leaving one’s homeland behind. Still, Pierre readily consented, believing he could both further his knowledge of dragons and free himself from his father’s judgement if he were to become a student at the Spire. Caine, shaken by his mother’s death and furious at his father’s mistreatment of Pierre, became emboldened by Elaine’s ideals. He refused the position he was being groomed for in the Companion Guard in order to become a simple squire in the Knights of Luna, which left Eldar furious, grief-stricken, and alone. While the Knights still answer to the Queen, they often act against the wishes of the monarchy and pledge themselves to outside causes they believe to be worthy. Caine too had relinquished his inheritance and departed from Enstad, and Pierre has not been in contact ever since. Upon enrollment at the Spire, Pierre had access to many resources that he did not have in Enstad. While continuing his dragon studies, he also found he had an affinity for the arcane arts. To him, magic resembled cooking in the way that it required a recipe, precise measurements and calculations, a thorough understanding of a wide variety of ingredients, and imaginative thinking. He continued to study dragons and the arcane arts for decades, and his research regarding the origin of the magic that spellcasters summon from other planes earned him many accolades, most notably the Mordenkainen Bronze Owl of Innovation. Pierre’s persisting love for beauty eventually manifested itself once again, but this time in the form of a love for the female figure. Pierre would frequently hit on female students and teachers alike, and with his charming Elven features and extensive knowledge of cooking, he would rarely ever sleep alone at night. Though this quality has gotten Pierre into varying degrees of trouble over the years, his knowledge of dragons and mastery of magic has made him into a valuable resource for the scholars at the Spire, and his place was never challenged. Almost a century later at the age of 117, Pierre has kept to his scholarly routines, and has grown overbearingly confident in his intelligence and magical prowess in spite of the fact that he has seldom left the Spire campus and has lived a very privileged lifestyle since he arrived. He hears whispers about the occurrences in the Pomarj peninsula from his peers, and ever since a particular Spire student was sent to the Ulekian colony and disappeared, Pierre gradually began to develop a curiosity for the Pomarj. What was life like in the frontier? What kind of ancient magic were his wild brethren hiding? Why did his own kingdom of Celene feel the need to grasp for territory after years of isolationism? When word of a dragon attack on the Ulekian colony along with a request for the assistance of a dragon expert came to the Spire from Stonelord Daznar Ashblood himself, Pierre could not help but volunteer himself for the job. After all, a little excitement in this mundane life of his couldn’t hurt… right?